We have been pushed around for too long! The time has come to rebel against the iron fist of the carriers! Root users unite!

The Cyanogenmod Team is thinking about building an app store. "Ugh, another app store?" you say? Hold on a minute, there's some serious merit to this one. This is an app store for rootedapps. Rooted apps that the carriers hate and frequently remove from the Android Market.

Remember this? It was no joke. Ice Cream Sandwich is indeed hitting the Asus Transformer Prime today, and we've got the OTA file to prove it.

Before you frantically skim the post for the download link, listen up: this will update will break root. So beforehand you are going to want to run OTA RootKeeper, so you don't lose root access. Then you are free to update.

Our own Justin Case has been collaborating with Reid Holland (erishasnobattery) on TacoRoot – a tool that should root just about any HTC smartphone – for some time now, and with the recent additions to HTC’s official unlocking tool, they’ve decided to release it.

At the moment, it’s quite gnarly – it’s only a temporary root for now, and there are various issues with it (see below). That said, it’s incredibly useful for downgrading phones like the myTouch 4G, which can’t be unlocked or rooted with the most recent version of their software.

Update: BurritoRoot may not work on version 6.0 firmware. If you're having trouble, update your firmware and try again.

On the historic date of December 20th, 2011, Amazon pushed out software version 6.2.1 to its Kindle Fire. The update was fairly minor -- its main additions had to do with improved scrolling and WiFi passwords -- but it brought about one devastating change: it broke all previous methods of root.

Amazon started pushing an update to the Kindle Fire yesterday, and two words that no Android geek wants to hear were muttered shortly after: breaks root. Unlike the previous update to the Fire, this update can't be re-rooted using SuperOneClick.

It's not all bad in Fire-world, though; for the un-rooted, this update brings a number of fixes and performance enhancements to the sub-$200 device:

You can now remove books, apps or other content from the carousel of recently used items on the home screen.

Avast has just launched its Mobile Security app for Android, integrating the pure power of Theft Aware (see our review) with some amazing new features. If you remember, Avast swallowed up ITAgents, the small company behind Theft Aware, back in September and promised to integrate it with its upcoming software. Even in its beta state, Avast's Mobile Security looks to be a very strong contender among the dozens of other security apps floating around in the Android Market.

Update #1: Well, that was much faster than anyone expected - RIM has already released the patch for this exploit. The good news is that the patch isn't yet available in the 2.0 Beta, but you can bet that it will be rolled into the update before it hits the masses in its final form. If you happened to accept the update on the current version and still want to give this exploit a try, then you can always downgrade the OS.